We Have a New Site Design

Time to stir up the water and get a new blog design. Our previous design was very minimalist. We've decided too minimalist. We want you to be able to see the range of topics we care about, the various projects we are managing, and have room for things like Twitter and Comments too! Please tell us what you think. We splurged and bought this theme from a top Wordpress designer, Brian Gardner. (Internet oddball perhaps, but I like paying for quality services.)

One of the coolest things about blog software is how the design elements and the content are separated, kind of like how editorial and advertising once used to be. In theory, it's possible to swap out a new "theme" on the Wordpress blog, and the database of posts and comments simply gets wrapped in a new look.

In reality of course, it's not that easy because inevitably we want to tweak a little here, change a color there, add a widget, hide a widget, and make all new graphics too! It's so emblematic of the state of the web these days. On the one hand the glass is half-full: so many things are free and creativity abounds. OTOH, the glass is half-empty: it takes hours and hours to find stuff and make it work the way we want it to, a full spectrum of brain matter is useful when managing the wide and deep terrain that covers coding, design, and ultimately writing a coherent message!

I interviewed a marketing exec from IBM back in 2002. He said they had already survived 11 iterations of their web site over the past 6-7 years! Meanwhile, many small businesses are content to have one iteration every 10 or 11 years! (OK - so maybe I exagerrate a little.) Here's a list of things to think about to see if it is time to redo your website.

We want some of our clients to update their sites; "unfortunately," we built them with the most modern tools available at the time, so the sites are surviving, if not thriving. If it's not broken, don't fix it makes sense. But then there is the question: what opportunities are being missed that can only be gained with new technology?

One last thought. I used "we" a lot in this post. Really, it is Shane who gets the big kudos as he researched the WP themes, did all the extra programming, and even added some upgrades to the templates that he is sending back to Brian, the original developer. Mahalo nui Shane. You are no ka oi!

Save the Internet and Your Privacy

Many of us have been merrily surfing away on the internet without realizing that the “powers that be” are seriously attempting to change it from an open environment to one that is controlled by the telcos while proposed new laws would require ISPs to maintain records of their customers web surfing activity! 

This is a heinous burden on business and a gross violation of our privacy. I believe it is time to remember that we have a participatory democracy here in the U.S. and we are responsible for how we get treated.

Legislation Would Require ISPs to Store Users' Activities
bq. A prominent Republican on Capitol Hill has prepared legislation that would rewrite Internet privacy rules by requiring that logs of Americans' online activities be stored, CNET News.com has learned. The proposal comes just weeks after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Internet service providers should retain records of user activities for a "reasonable amount of time," a move that represented a dramatic shift in the Bush administration's views on privacy.

What if you got bumped to the back of the bus on the way to the internet?
There is legislation pending to give telcos increased control over access to the internet. You can watch this short video we made on the topic. You can also visit Save the Internet to learn more.

May 24th there will be a national day of protest against this pending legislation. I know it is easy to assume that bad things won't happen, but they do. The internet has given each citizen a voice like never before. Let's use it to promote open communication and private lives.

save the internet, privacy, internet

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Connection Speed: Are You Getting What You Pay For?

Here in the Santa Fe office (we’re in The Lofts) we switched from DSL to cable modems a couple of years ago. When we built the space in 2000 there weren’t a lot of options in terms of cable versus DSL. So we had to go with a satellite on the roof for TV and DSL for our connection.

When we moved to Hawaii and got hooked up with Oceanic/TimeWarner's digital cable and Road Runner broadband service. Oceanic has the best customer service I have ever experienced. And we were very happy with the speed and ease of use of our cable modem compared to what we had gone through to get DSL up and running. Remember, this was over 5 years ago and I'm sure the technology has improved since then.

So when Comcast came to Santa Fe and we were able to dump satellite (TV used to drop out during snow and rain storms for hours at a time) and switch to Comcast cable for both TV and internet.

Comcast used/uses outside contractors to install new cable/internet accounts. I had already wired the office with cable and hight speed cat5 cable to every outlet. So the Comcast outside contractor just dropped the cable modem in the data closet and called it a day. It's been an OK connection since then but it does drop out from time to time. Lately it's gotten worse and during this trip I've been without an internet connection for hours at a time.

A call to Comcast very late on Tuesday night secured an appointment this morning with a Comcast field tech. He glanced at the data closet and asked me if I wired everything myself. "Yes!" I proclaimed proudly. "Well there are some serious problems here with the splitters and connectors and I have to replace them." he replied. Upon further discussion and reflection, I remembered that the Comcast outside contractor just popped the cable modem into my pre-existing wiring setup. He should have replaced all the cheap connectors and splitters.

Seems the cheap splitters and cable connectors I had picked up at Home Depot were causing feedback and "leaking" signal. Unknown to me, when connected and split with cheap components cables can "leak" a signal so bad that he was able to detect it with a device in his truck when he pulled up. We're on the second floor and he parked across the driveway!

He swapped out the cheap parts and we headed over to the speakeasy speed test to see if that helped. Boy did it!! Results are shown below.

The moral of this story: Even if you don't fully understand what the cable guy/gal is doing, and even if you do, make sure they are installing brand new components. Ask them questions about "signal leaking." And before they leave, have them prove to you on your own computer that you're actually getting the connection speed you're paying for.

COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Judy
URL:
DATE: 12/27/2005 03:47:32 AM
Shane,
This is very interesting. A few months ago I had a problem with our cable service and wish I had know this then. IT certainly is something everyone with cable service should know! Thanks for information.

Mahalo.